A Story Through Time
by crimsonslytherin
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts is coming to an end and Harry is as good as dead. Can Hermione goback in time to when Tom Riddle was at school and save them all? The fate of the wizarding world rests on her shoulders. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: None of this is mine it is all the brilliant J.'s except perhaps the storyline and a few of the characters.**

**Hello all you brilliant readers out there. This is my first fan-fic so be nice! So, I really wanted to have a go at a time-turner fic (they are my favourite as you can probably guess from my pen name) so here goes….**

**A Story through Time**

Chapter 1

'RON! NOOOO!'

I screamed as I watched helplessly while a jet of green light shot out of Bellatrix's wand like an arrow, soared through air and hit Ron square in the chest. He fell like a puppet whose strings were cut.

'YOU BITCH!' I shrieked, and darted forward, stunning my opponent. I leapt over the rubble of the half collapsed wall of the corridor and opening my mouth as I began to curse that evil witch, avenging my boyfriend's death.

'STUPEFY!' I yelled. Bellatrix deflected my spell easily.

'Aaaww. Is the little mudblood wrench upset about the weasel's death?' she taunted in return. Then we began to duel. Sparks flew as we dodged and twirled to a deadly dance.

'Crucio!' Blinding pain. I felt like I was being torn limb from limb. My eyes felt white hot but I bit down on my tongue, tasting blood as I forced myself not to scream. I would not give her the satisfaction. This was painful, very painful, but not as bad as when Voldemort himself had used the curse on me. I could still concentrate on what needed to be done.

'Impedimenta!' Bellatrix looked shocked for a moment but quickly recovered.

'Is that all you've got mudblood?' she sneered as her shield charm went up.

'Reducto!' Her eyes narrowed as she dodged the curse and the duel intensified as we battled it out.

'Cru-'

'Avada Kedavra!' Bellatrix jerked in surprise as the curse hit her and blasted her across the room. She lay there, crumpled on the floor, unmoving, her wand lying ten feet away from her splayed hand.

What - had - I – done! I fell to my knees next to Ron's lifeless body as my brain finally caught up with my actions. I had killed someone! Good people don't kill. Only Death Eaters kill. I choked back a sob as I draped myself across Ron's chest. Was I no better than them? Did I deserve to live? And it still didn't feel like enough. I wanted to kill every person who did not oppose Voldemort's rein of terror. Damn it! I felt like I could kill Voldemort himself!

Tears were streaming down my face as I contemplated these thoughts, gripping my boyfriend's dead body. It could have been years later when I felt a soft tug on my arm. I looked up. Dumbledore was standing over me with a pained expression on his face.

'Follow me, Miss Granger,' he said and turned sharply as he began walking back down the ruined corridor. In a daze I followed him, but not before planting a kiss on Ron's still warm lips.

Evidence of the war was all around me as I followed Dumbledore through the battlefield of what had once been the safe fortress of my school. Nobody paid any attention to us as we walked down a flight of stairs, through a door that was pretending to be a wall and down another corridor until finally we stopped in front of a large, rather ugly, stone gargoyle.

'Professor, why-' I began, but he held up a hand to silence me.

'Acid pops.' He gave the password and the stone stairway sprang to life. We stood on the stairway as it slowly traveled up until we reached a large oak door with a brass knocker. Dumbledore entered and I followed him through. The room was untouched. The whirring, delicate silver instruments sat on a spindly legged table. Books on shelves lined the walls and Fawkes the phoenix sat on his perch surveying us quietly. You could almost forget that there was a battle raging downstairs.

Dumbledore sat down heavily behind his ancient, carved desk, his lined face looking older than ever and indicated that I should do the same.

'Why-' I began but again Dumbledore silenced me with another wave of his hand.

'Please, Miss Granger. We don't have much time. Let me explain, but please save all questions till after I've finished.' He sounded so tired. I opened my mouth to protest but then thought better and closed it again.

'We cannot win this war,' he said simply. 'Voldemort has too many followers and our numbers are dwindling.

I couldn't help myself. 'But what about Harry?' I blurted out.

'I'm afraid that not even Harry can save us this time. We have got to face facts, Miss Granger. There is nothing we can do. Unless…' He trailed off staring at me very hard. I felt slightly uncomfortable.

'Miss Granger, what I think we need here is more time,' he said softly. I frowned, slightly confused, but then I understood. My mouth dropped open to form a round o.

'You want -,' I hesitated, 'you want me to travel back through _time_?'

He nodded. 'This may be our last hope. If we were to, let's say, nip this 'problem' in the bud, we might just be able survive this.'

'I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you want me to do?'

'Miss Granger, I want you to travel back in time, 50 years to be precise, to when Tom Riddle was at school here.'

'You want me to go and kill him?'

'No, Miss Granger.' He paused, 'Only as a last resort. I want you to change him, make him a better person, steer him off the path that leads to him becoming Lord Voldemort.'

I opened my mouth to interrupt.

'You must decide how you will do that. Nobody is born evil. It is our environment that shapes us into who we are today. Tom Riddle never had any friends, when he was a child or when he was at school here. He has never been shown any love.'

He opened a draw that was in his desk, reached into it and drew out an envelope and a gold hourglass swinging on a golden chain – a time turner.

'I have modified this time turner so that one turn anti clockwise should take you back to the right time,' he said as he passed it to me.

'Should?' I raised an eyebrow, glancing up from the necklace in my hands.

'I cannot guarantee that this will work. It could not work at all, it could take you to a completely different time period or it could kill you,' he explained. 'I know it is a lot to ask but I know that you have a lot to give. Will you accept this mission knowing of the danger that you will be in?'

I thought back to Ron's dead body lying amidst a battlefield where so many of my friends had lost their lives and countless others would if Voldemort was not defeated. I slowly nodded my head. 'I accept,' I stated, hoping that my voice did not shake too much.

I shadow of a smile crossed Dumbledore's face.

'Thank you, Miss Granger. If everything works out correctly, you will be going back to the beginning of his seventh year here at Hogwarts. In this envelope are two letters. When you arrive, I want you to talk to no one until you have spoken to me. Give me this. The first letter will explain to my younger self that you are from the future to carry out an important mission. Of course, it does not go into any details.' He handed me over the envelope.

'The second is a piece of parchment with your grades on it and the classes that you should be taking and a note to the Headmaster, Professor Dippet with details about why you are there. Fake, of course. It explains that you are from France, that you went to the school of Beuxbatons, that you're parents are now dead by Grindlewalds hand and that you have been sent to England so that you can be looked after by your Uncle.'

At this he paused as I looked up at him quizzically.

'Yes,' he said, with a slight twinkle in his eye. 'You will be posing as my niece. I think it is best that you be half blood. Tom Riddle will feel a bond with you for that fact alone and he will most likely not take kindly to you if he discovers that you are muggleborn. Do you think you can remember all that?'

I nodded slowly. 'I think I've got it all. Just one thing, what will my name be?'

Dumbledore smiled slightly. 'Well, I think you can keep your first name but we will have to change your surname to prevent any recognition in future years.' He thought for a second. 'I know. I have a third cousin twice removed who married a man whose name was O'Brien. I think that will do. Don't forget, we are related on your mother's side. Your dad is a muggle.'

He stood up and I followed suite, placing the chain of the time-turner around my neck.

'Tuck the letters inside your robes; we don't want you to lose them.' I did as he had asked taking deep breathes to try and calm myself. It wasn't working.

'Alright then Miss O'Brien,' he said. 'When you are ready.'

'One last thing,' I asked quickly. 'You seem to have planned this out a while ago.'

'I had my doubts and it is always best to have a plan b, no matter how ludicrous or seemingly impossible it appears to be,' he replied. 'Good luck Miss Granger. I hope we will never have to meet in this way again.'

I took hold of the time turner and turned it back once before I could change my mind.

There was a flash of light and I could see time rewinding all around me, but moving too quickly for me to pick out individual events. The past was swirling all around me in dizzying circles and I began to feel more than a bit queasy. This was so much worse than when I used it in my third year. Turning back decades was much more uncomfortable than going back a few hours. I closed my eyes wishing for it all to be over when as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

I opened my eyes to glimpse an old, rather plump wizard sitting behind the headmaster's desk facing a boy with dark hair who was sitting on the same chair I had recently vacated, before everything went dark and I felt like I was falling through nothingness.

**Okay! I hope you enjoyed it – time well spent and all that. Please review as all comments are appreciated ( as long as they are either nice or constructive). Constructive criticism please! Some advice on where I could perhaps continue the story next as well?**

**Thanks for reading, love ya all**

**Isobel xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: None of this is mine it is all the brilliant J.'s except perhaps the storyline and a few of the characters.**

**Hello again, brilliant readers. Here is my second chapter, so without further ado…..**

**A Story through Time**

Previously ….

'You want -,' I hesitated, 'you want me to travel back through _time_?'

Chapter 2

I opened my eyes slowly, adjusting myself to the bright, white light that surrounded me, blinking a couple of times. I ached all over and my head felt as if it was being repeatedly hit with a sledgehammer. Where was I? I turned my head to the side slowly, seeing a whole row of the same simple beds with crisp white sheets tucked around them. The hospital wing.

I closed my eyes again trying to remember why I was here. The battle of Hogwarts came flooding back to me. Ron dying, me dueling Bellatrix, me in Dumbledore's office – the time turner. I reached up and touched the gold chain around my neck. Good; it was still there.

So had it worked? I tried to think back. The last thing I remembered before waking up here was seeing the old man and the boy sitting either side of the headmaster's desk. I recognised the wizened old wizard from a painting in the future Dumbledore's office. I was certain it was Professor Dippet. So did that mean that I was in the right time period?

I was brought out of my reverie by a short cough. Slowly I looked around. Sitting in a chair by the foot of my bed was the dark haired boy I had seen in Professor Dippet's (?) office.

'Good, you're awake,' he said. 'I'll just call Madame Riveties.' I studied him as he knocked on a plain, wooden door on the far side of the infirmary and quietly conversed with an unseen figure. He was tall, with dark, slightly wavy hair and a pale complexion. His eyes were an emotionless cold gray and he stood with an authority that commanded respect.

He and the nurse made their way over to me, Madame Riveties holding an assortment of disgusting looking potions. She had a kindly air about her and rather reminded me of my own mother. I fought back tears as I remembered that I no longer had a mother; Voldemort had made sure of that.

'Right, dear,' she said, hovering over me. 'What hurts?'

'Nothing,' I lied through my teeth. 'I'm fine. Please could I speak to Professor Dumbledore?'

'Nonsense. What do you mean nothing hurts. When you were brought here you looked as if you had just stepped off a battlefield. You won't be talking to anyone until you tell me the truth.'

If only you knew, I thought. I decided to play along as it seemed that this was a woman who was not going to take no for an answer and I knew it was imperative that I see Professor Dumbledore as soon as possible.

'My head hurts and I ache all over as well as a stinging pain down the side of my right arm,' I replied reluctantly.

'Well, I'm afraid that your arm is burnt pretty badly, though of course it's nothing I can't fix. The cream may take another couple of hours to fully mend the skin though.' She picked up three different potions of my bedside cabinet and held them out to me.

'Drink up. We don't want you in here any longer than necessary.'

I examined the potions in my hands. 'Skele-gro?' I asked.

'Yes. You hit your shoulder very hard on the corner of the headmaster's desk and you shattered the bone. Now drink quickly before I force you to,' she responded.

Grimacing I uncorked each bottle and swallowed them in turn. The boy who had been silent during our little banter smiled slightly at the expression on my face.

'You think it's funny?' I retorted. 'You try drinking this poison. It's enough to make anyone gag.'

His smile just grew wider. I decided to ignore him, focusing instead on the job at hand and reached for my wand which was, thankfully, on the cabinet beside my bed.

'What do you think you're doing?' said an indignant Madame Riveties.

'I have to go and find Dumbledore,' I answered, pushing back the sheets covering me and attempting to stand up. To my dismay, my legs instantly gave out and I fell sideways, not hitting the floor only because the boy, with sharp reflexes, shot forward and caught me.

Embarrassed and now fuming, I felt myself being dumped, unceremoniously, back onto the bed.

'You will stay exactly where you are, young lady,' said the nurse. 'I will find the Professor. Tom,' she addressed the boy, 'stay here and make sure she does not leave that bed.' And with that she bustled out of the ward.

'Humph,' I muttered to myself, folding my arms and leaning back against the wall. I looked again curiously at the boy and saw that he was staring at me with the same blank expression that he seemed to have on permanently.

'Is there a problem?' I asked, now getting thoroughly annoyed.

'What's your name?' he questioned, abruptly.

'Hermione Gra- O'Brien. Hermione O'Brien,' I reacted instinctively, cursing myself inwardly for almost giving myself away before the game had even begun.

He looked at me with those cold eyes and decided I was telling the truth.

'I'm Tom Riddle,' he volunteered.

I couldn't help but let out a little gasp. Luckily, it was masked by the entrance of Madame Riveties and I much younger looking and with auburn colour haired Dumbledore.

'My dear, I'm glad to see you are awake. I hope you are feeling better. I take it you wished to see me,' he asked in jovial terms.

'Yes Professor,' I replied, 'but I wonder if we could have this conversation in private.'

'Very well. Madame Riveties, Tom, would you mind leaving us for a few minutes,' he requested, looking at them.

'Alright, Albus, but just for a few minutes,' Madame Riveties agreed before she retreated into her study. Riddle curtly nodded his head and walked briskly out of the hospital wing.

I cast a few protective spells on the ward to ensure we wouldn't be overheard before turning to Professor Dumbledore who was looking at me curiously.

'Is all this necessary?' he asked, slightly bewildered.

'Yes, sir, I think it is,' I replied. I decided to take the plunge and just tell him everything. 'Professor, I am from 50 years into the future. I've come back here to try and prevent a war from happening. In the future –'

'Please, do not tell me anything about the future,' Dumbledore interrupted hurriedly. 'I already know more than I need to.'

'Sir, I have this for you. I was instructed to give it to you before you did anything else. I think you will find the handwriting familiar,' I told him before handing over the thick envelope which, thankfully, had stayed tucked inside my robes during the hellish journey to this time.

I watched his eyes widen slightly at what he read but apart from that, you would think that he was used to having time traveling teens literally dropping into the school from the future.

'Right, Miss O'Brien,' he said, once he had finished reading the letters. 'I trust that my future self knows what he is doing so I agree to everything he asks. You will be my niece for the duration of your stay here until your task has been completed. But first, please, could you tell me what method you used to travel here?'

I pulled on the golden chain on which the time turner hung and showed it to him. I saw him frown as he saw it and I quickly looked down to see if anything was wrong. It was. Very, very wrong. The time turner had cracked in two and the sand in the hourglass had all spilled out.

'It is as my future self had feared. I will do my best to repair this for you but I'm afraid you may be forced to stay here for a while.'

I nodded. 'My task will probably take a long time. There is no hurry.'

'Good,' he said, now smiling. 'Now, the term does not start until this evening when the students arrive so you have the day to spend at your leisure, so long as Madame Riveties permits it. You will be sorted with the first years tonight at the welcoming feast. I will have Madame Riveties bring you some plain black robes for today until we find out what house you are in.'

'Professor, I have already been sorted,' I interjected. 'I was in Gryffindor.'

'Times can change us, Miss O'Brien,' said Dumbledore. 'Now, just one last thing.' He muttered something under his breath and I felt a curious tingling sensation come over me. 'You can now speak perfect French when you chose to. We want to make sure everyone believes your story. Try it.'

'Merci, monsieur.' I said trying to imagine myself speaking French. I was shocked when it worked. 'Wow, professor. Thank you.' I smiled at him, enjoying the ability to be bilingual.

'I think I shall leave you now, Miss O'Brien. I must explain to Professor Dippet why my niece suddenly appeared in the middle of his office.' He left the hospital wing, humming softly.

Immediately after he had left, Madame Riveties re-entered and bustled over to me. She felt my pulse and pronounced me fit to leave as long as I came back after lunch for a top up on the potions she had given me. Before I left she gave me a spoonful of re-energising potion and then I was free to leave. I decided to visit the Room of Requirement as I supposed I needed to find out about Grindlewald's movements in Europe and I didn't want to be disturbed.

When Dumbledore asked me to leave, I quickly walked out of the hospital wing. There was something that didn't quite add up about the new girl. She had just appeared in Professor Dippet's office before fainting. She hadn't taken a portkey as she was not holding anything when she arrived and there was no way she could have apparated so that was another mystery. Also, she looked as if she had just come from a war zone, plus the fact that she hesitated in telling me her name. No, there was definitely something up.

The moment I was outside I cast a charm to allow me to listen in on their conversation (as if sending me out of the room was going to stop me), but I was surprised to find that it was instantly repelled. I tried again but to no success. It seemed that one of them had used protective charms to stop me hearing anything. Angrily, I kicked the stone wall. Pain exploded in my right foot. Great, just when I thought this day couldn't get any better. I sat there, slumped against the wall until I heard footsteps the other side of the door. I immediately jumped up as Professor Dumbledore exited the hospital wing, humming softly.

I did not enter the ward as I heard Madame Riveties telling the O'Brien girl she could leave. Quickly, I cast a disillusion charm over myself. I decided to follow her and see where she went, to see if she could give me any clue as to why she was here. She stepped out of the wing and glanced around warily before setting off at a fast pace along the corridor. I followed her, surprised that she seemed to know exactly where she was going, until she had just gone round the corner.

As I rounded it I was surprised to see that she seemed to have disappeared. I looked around for her but stopped as I felt a wand press into my back. I turned around slowly. She was standing behind me with an annoyed expression on her face.

'Stop following me, Riddle,' she said in a slow, measured voice. I kept my mask of indifference on my face.

'Or what?' I asked, raising an eyebrow. I was pleased to see she looked even more aggravated. People make mistakes when they're angry.

'Or I'll have to stop you myself,' She decided before pocketing her wand and setting off back in the direction we has come. This time I did not follow her. She fascinated me. She had not gone all giggly and stupid like all the other girls in the school when she was confronted with my amazing good looks, nor had she been scared to confront me herself. She had even drawn her wand at me. No, she was very interesting. I was going to have to keep a close eye on her this year.

My heart was pounding as I walked away from the young Lord Voldemort. Of course, I had seen through his disillusionment charm immediately which had surprised me as I had expected more from him. I led him off in the opposite direction of the grand staircase and quickly hid behind a tapestry, hiding a secret passageway as he followed. Now that I look back I realise that threatening Riddle probably wasn't the best thing to do. But he seemed startled enough to stop following me.

I contemplated this on my rather long journey up to the seventh floor until I reached the Room of Requirement. Pacing outside the invisible door I thought hard about what I wanted, smiling as a handle appeared in the wall. I smiled even more widely when I saw what lay beyond. I whole room filled of books sorted in order of importance and relevance. I grabbed the nearest one and settled back into a comfortable armchair feeling the happiest I had been since I arrived here, now in my element.

**All right people, so there you go. The second chapter. Now before you go, please review. I am very sad that I seem to be the only person on this site who hasn't got any reviews. I don't care what it is. Feedback, how to improve, criticism. Please, just anything. Thanks**

**Isobel xxx**


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